You have requested that the Committee advise you of the propriety of
presiding over cases defended by an assistant public defender who is engaged
in the practice of law with your wife.

In the past you have been able to resolve your ethical concerns through
an internal arrangement confining the assistant public defender to matters
arising in the Circuit Court. As of July, 1987, however, the assistant public
defender has been assigned to cases within the jurisdiction of your court.

It is the Committee's opinion that the ethical considerations which have
been honored in the past, resulting in the assistant public defender not
appearing before you, continue to exist. Thus, in the absence of reversion
to the pre-July, 1987 method of assigning the assistant public defender,
it appears, as burdensome as it might be to the system, that you are committed
to the procedure prescribed in Canon 3(D).

I have enclosed a copy of Opinions 76/12
and 85/2 which may be helpful.